Some time later, as the Mainichi Hai drew closer, the three Trainers gathered once again, leading their Uma Musume in training.
The three of them were like a Team, helping each other. Gradually, the Uma Musume, who originally belonged to different classes and dorms and had little interaction, became familiar with each other. After a few days of training together, their relationships also became very good.
"Doto, your Pace Chaser skills still need to be more refined! Keep going, don't stop!"
"Gold Ship, McQueen, keep up with Doto's pace!"
"Curren Chan! Slow down! Try to conserve your stamina and sprint in the final straight!"
"YES!" x4
The Trainers' voices, rising and falling, prompted the four Uma Musume to respond in unison. By now, the four Uma Musume were familiar enough to train together in a spirited manner, each focusing on their strengths as per their Trainer's instructions.
It's worth mentioning that McQueen and Doto had successfully lost weight several days ago, but they were still wearing weights and training with Gold Ship and Curren Chan. After more than a month, both McQueen and Doto felt that this weighted running method significantly improved their leg power, and they began to enjoy training with weights daily, hoping to achieve even greater bursts of speed on the racetrack.
Curren Chan and Gold Ship also wanted to try this training, but after Imanami brought them the weights, Curren Chan couldn't even take a single step with them on, and Gold Ship gave up after running a single lap, becoming completely exhausted. After that, both decided not to continue with weighted training.
"It seems that Doto and McQueen's talents are developing the fastest right now," Imanami said, nodding as he watched the four Uma Musume training together on the track.
"Based on the past, Doto should be a late bloomer. But you actually managed to stimulate her potential, Wada. McQueen is also the same. It seems like Uma Musume really can't be generalized like Racehorses."
"Yes, they're basically the same as humans. The more time we spend with each other, the faster we can understand each other's intentions," Ikezoe said, sighing with emotion.
His time with Curren Chan had greatly helped in healing the pain in Ikezoe's heart caused by Orfevre's disdain. Curren Chan wasn't difficult to train, nor did she resist races. Even if Ikezoe arranged some training items that Curren Chan was not good at, she would obediently do them after some pouting until they were completed.
Even Racehorse Curren Chan would probably not be able to do what this obedient trainee did. It can be said that the biggest beneficiary of "being able to communicate" was probably Ikezoe—he truly experienced real "love" from Curren Chan.
"But in terms of progress, Wada, your side is much better!" Ikezoe patted Wada's shoulder, his gaze unconsciously falling on Doto, who was running at the front of the pack, and said with a hint of envy:
"You lucky bastard, last time it was T.M. Opera O, this time it's Meisho Doto. I initially thought that her timid nature would affect her performance, but now she doesn't even feel like the same Uma Musume from before."
"Indeed… Doto is more courageous on the track than usual," Wada said, not elaborating much. His gaze was completely focused on Doto at this moment, and he said intently: "This is my last gamble."
"Next week is the Mainichi Hai, isn't it, Wada? Your current training… is it to strengthen Doto's spurting power?" The most experienced Imanami naturally saw the recent focus of Wada's training for Doto.
It could be said that he hadn't focused on stamina at all, but entirely on strength and speed, clearly a training regimen specifically for the Mainichi Hai race. The Mainichi Hai, an 1800-meter turf race, is considered a mile race. For Doto, who excelled in middle and long distances, stamina was not an issue. Instead, the goal was to utilize her spurting strength to get a good position when the race starts, thereby suppressing every other Uma Musume from the very beginning.
But how powerful her spurt needs to be depends on who she was competing against. Doto's spurting power was not weak; even the current McQueen was outmatched by Doto—but her opponent was not Mejiro McQueen, but T.M. Opera O. And everyone knew how terrifying T.M. Opera O's final spurt was.
"Hey, hey, hey, seriously? Competing in spurting power with T.M. Opera O? Even I think that Orfevre wouldn't necessarily win against her!"
Ikezoe was startled by Imanami's judgment and quickly said to Wada: "Wada, are you actually serious? Letting Doto compete with T.M. Opera O in a final spurt? How is that a place where she can beat T.M. Opera O?"
"This method has the highest chance we have at beating T.M. Opera O," Wada of course knew how terrifying T.M. Opera O's final spurt was. He was also very clear that Doto had almost no chance when competing with T.M. Opera O in a final spurt.
However, as he said before, to win a race, one must maximize an Uma Musume's advantages and strengths. If Doto wanted to beat T.M. Opera O, she had to focus on speed and strength. Only by suppressing T.M. Opera O in these two areas could they have a glimmer of hope.
To put it bluntly, the current Wada was akin to someone who knew it was impossible to beat a boss with skill alone, thus he could only continuously level his character up to overpower them with pure stats. Only when Doto's base stats were high enough to suppress T.M. Opera O's skill bonuses would they then have a chance to win.
Of course, this was very difficult, which is why Doto's training intensity during this period was comparatively higher than that of the other three Uma Musume. She was exhausted every day, but she still gritted her teeth and persevered. In order not to fail Wada's promise and expectations, Doto was working harder than anyone could imagine at this moment.
In fact, her training intensity was so high that Imanami felt quite nervous several times.
"Wada-kun, you shouldn't have her train with such high intensity before a race," Imanami, acting as an elder, gave Wada his advice, saying calmly: "Although Doto undergoes health checks every day and her legs are fine, continuing this way will not be worth it in the long run."
"…" However, in response to Imanami's words, Wada opened his mouth as if to say something, but ultimately closed it silently, merely nodding humbly.
What could he say? That he didn't even agree with these training regimens at first? Because Doto was getting more and more nervous with each passing day, she requested these high-intensity trainings herself, exhausting herself every day. Wada watched Doto on the track, panting but still moving, and silently sighed.
As a Trainer… he truly was incompetent.
"WADA! WADA RYUJI! GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE!"
However, just then, a sharp female voice suddenly rang out from the side. Wada, whose name was called, immediately turned his head and saw Hana Toujou, with a furious expression, rolling up her sleeves and walking towards Wada, looking as if she was about to start a fight.
Beside Hana Toujou, there were two Uma Musume who had come with her who were none other than El Condor Pasa and Taiki Shuttle, members of Team Rigil—who seemed to be there to intimidate others. Wada was also stunned by the aggressive Hana Toujou. It wasn't until Hana Toujou reached him and grabbed his collar that he barely managed to react.
"WADA RYUJI! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO T.M. OPERA O! TELL ME HONESTLY! DID YOU CAST SOME SORT OF VOODOO MAGIC ON HER?!" (T/N: Girl thinks that Wada is a witch.)
"—Miss Toujou! Please calm down!"
Hana Toujou's actions also alerted Ikezoe and Imanami. Imanami immediately stepped forward to calm her down, while Ikezoe firmly grasped Hana Toujou's arms, telling her to let go of Wada.
Hana Toujou was extremely unwilling, but she still maintained a trace of reason, slightly loosening her grip but still not letting go of Wada, and asked word by word:
"Wada Ryuji, I admire your determination and consider you an opponent, but aren't you going too far by using such underhanded tactics to affect T.M. Opera O's performance?!"
"WHAT DID I DO?!" However, Wada was also bewildered. What did he do to T.M. Opera O?
"YOU STILL WON'T ADMIT IT?!" Hana Toujou thought Wada was playing dumb, and thus she became even angrier, shouting sharply: "Tell me the truth, what exactly did you do to T.M. Opera O?! Why did her condition suddenly decline so quickly? She even stopped listening to my instructions!"
"...?"
Hana Toujou's sharp shout, however, made Wada Ryuji's expression suddenly turn subtle. He suddenly realized that perhaps this matter really had something to do with him…
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His rizz was simply too powerful for a glass cannon like Opera.
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If you spot any errors, feel free to comment about it and I will fix it as soon as I can.